Hiya! Wow, it's been a while since I've had to make my own post here...

I just came across a R Blackinton Co boot. However, almost all of them that I'm seeing pics of have a corkscrew/bottle opener in them. Mine does not. Mine has something in it alright, but I haven't a clue as to what it is or why, or even if it is original to the piece.

The top insert piece is 2 3/16". The top comes off and in the top part of the ...tube... is some material.

Also, the boot is lined with something, and I think that if the corkscrew was supposed to be with the boot then that lining wouldn't be there. It seems like it would be fragile.

Ok, so what if the tube was supposed to be hollow and held in place by the lining (Red? Old dry rubber?) to act as a pouring spout after popping the cap...if stored upside down for a long period, the liquid contents might dry into that nasty amalgam stuffing the tube. Black? Liquid boot polish, stored in a small boot for touch ups? Gotta look good for that whole hound and fox show. Then again, a swift kick of spirits?

It's a marriage, your novelty riding-boot is missing its corkscrew/bottle opener, Blackinton also made a similar golfbag, they had a wooden liner that served the dual purpose of holding the corkscrew in and protecting the relatively thin silver from interior damage. The other piece looks to me like it might have a dip pen nib-holder at the end, perhaps it was intended to fit into a sleeve for travel, the material revealed inside may just be a filler...

Could you call this a "Vesta Case" as a general category for this item? ::: I was thinking this could be a match safe to protect matches from moisture, but it looked a little too different to be considered for that function ::: The interior of the boot seems too narrow for wooden match storage :::

Aguest wrote:Could you call this a "Vesta Case" as a general category for this item? ::: I was thinking this could be a match safe to protect matches from moisture, but it looked a little too different to be considered for that function ::: The interior of the boot seems too narrow for wooden match storage :::

The opening to the boot is only 9mm across and it seems to get narrower as it gets deeper. Not very efficient storage for much of anything...